Loyalty
by GoneDrake
Summary: What would happen if Bella chose to stay in Forks with Jacob instead of heading off to Italy with Alice to go see Edward? Find out by reading this story!
1. Staying Behind

**Loyalty**

**BPOV**

"Please don't go!" Jacob cried, throwing his arms around my waist and holding me gently. "Please!"

I felt tears falling down my cheeks, and I turned away from his view. I knew how he must have felt. Betrayed. The way that I felt when Edward left me. But that was going to change soon. I would see him again. I was sure of it.

"I have to." I whispered, looking down at the hard pavement of our driveway. "Edward is in trouble. I must go with Alice." I felt ashamed that I was leaving Jacob like this, but I knew that it was the right thing to do. When I got back from Italy, if I got back from Italy, I would apologize to Jacob.

"Come on!" Alice shouted to me, her eyes narrowed. "We must hurry!"

Jacob slowly let go of me, tears starting to glisten in his eyes as well. "Please Bella…" He mumbled quietly.

"I'm so sorry. I really am." I pushed myself free of his grasp and quickly opened the car door. Alice grabbed my wrist and pulled me onto the leather seat impatiently. I was ready.

Before we could pull out of the driveway, another car glided on the rough concrete, blocking our path. It was a dark red Volvo. A wave of fear made me shiver as I cautiously glanced out of the rear view mirror. I couldn't see anyone. I turned to look at Alice, but surprisingly, she wasn't there. I threw open the car door swiftly, and was greeted by the sounds of people arguing.

"No." I heard Alice protest. "Absolutely not. Do you guys have any idea how dangerous Volterra is?"

"As a matter of a fact, we do." A strong, low voice replied. My eyes widened when I realized who that voice belonged to. Emmett.

"Then why in the world do you want to come? It's bad enough that Edward, Bella, and I are risking our lives by going. Now you two want to come as well?"

"Bella's coming?" A soft, gentle voice that I recognized as Jasper's asked, full of surprise and frustration. "Whatever for? She wouldn't stand a chance against one of them."

"That may be true." Alice agreed. "But there is no other way to convince Edward that she is still alive. We must act now, or else it will be to late."

I heard Emmett give a loud, exhasperated sigh.

"Listen, Alice." Jasper softly rested his hand on Alice's shoulder. "It will be hard to remain inconspicuous with Bella accompanying us. If it was just us three, we fight even stand a chance in a fight. Besides, with Edward there, that would be four. I know that Edward wouldn't believe us, but there has to be some way of convincing him. There has to be."

Now it was Alice's turn to sigh. She looked deep into Jasper's eyes. "I wouldn't be able to stand losing you. When I'm in Italy, I need to know that you are safe, and that you are not in any danger."

"But what about yourself?" Jasper pleaded. "I wouldn't be able to stand losing you. I need to be with you."

It took me a while to realize that Emmett wasn't part of the conversation. He had gracefully made his way into the car, and was now staring at me. "Bella." Emmett whispered, so quietly that I could barely hear his voice. "It would be a lot better if you stayed in Forks. We can go find Edward by ourselves."

"No way." I shook my head with determination. "I am going to Italy. No compremises."

"But what about your friend?" Emmett asked, tilting his head towards Jacob, who, until now, I hadn't noticed had been standing blankly and emotionlessly near the front door of my house. "He seems pretty sad. Why don't you stay with him?"

I wanted to stay with Jacob, I really did. But I had been longing to see Edward for such an incredibly long time. Since Emmett didn't seem to be giving in to my decision, I decided to try a different angle at how I was approaching the challenging situation. "Even if I didn't come." I pondered, watching as Emmett's frown started to lift. "How would you guys be able to convince Edward that I was still alive?"

"We could manage." Emmett grimaced, and from the looks of his expression, I could tell that he had a rather violent idea in mind. I was about to tell Emmett how I was just curious and that I had no intentions what so ever of staying behind when Alice popped her head in through the car door.

"Okay, Bella." Alice told me, looking rather authorative. "We've decided on the plan." Jacob gave a pittiful little sigh from the entrance way, but Alice just glared at him. "You are going to stay in Forks."

"Who's we?" I demanded, realizing that I was practically shouting now. "There is no way that I, the cause of this whole mess, is going to let Edward go kill himself!"

"You don't really have much of a choice." Alice stated. "We are going to go get Edward out of this mess, one way or the other. You are the most vulnerable to any vampire compared to us."

I didn't have much time to protest, because the next thing I knew, I was watching the two cars quickly speed away down the road.


	2. Comforting

I was so surprised that I didn't even realize the sopping wet tears streaming down my cheeks until I brushed a lock of my hair out of my face. I covered my face with my hands and sank to the ground on my knees. _This is all my fault. This wouldn't even be happening if he had never met me. Will I ever be able to see him again? What if Alice, Jasper, and Emmett don't make it in time?_

I was so caught up in my misery that I barely felt Jacob's warm hand resting on my shoulder, or his muscular arms slowly wrapping around me. I didn't care if he wanted this to be more then friendship. All I wanted right now was to rest my head on his shoulders and cry.

"Bella." Jacob whispered. "It's okay. Everything's okay."

"No, it's not." I mumbled. "What if they don't get to him in time?"

Jacob sighed. "I bet they will." He told me, frowning. "But who needs that bloodsucker anyways? You are to good for him."

I felt like telling him that what he just said wasn't true at all. I wasn't good enough for Edward Cullen.

Saying his full name in my head made me sob even harder.

"Listen to me, Bella." Jacob placed my face in his large hands and gently wiped the tears that were still gathered around my eyes. "Even though I don't understand what you see in that vampire, I know that you still have feelings for him. But I'm pretty sure that Charlie won't be as understanding as I am right now."

"You're right." I gave Jacob a big hug and stood up. I was comforted my his presence, but that wasn't enough. I was completely and utterly horrified that Edward had chosen to exert to such drastic measures, and appalled at how uncaring the rest of the Cullens could be. I knew that I had to keep myself in one piece until Edward came back. If he came back.

"Come on, let's go inside." Jacob coaxed, wrapping one of his arms around my waist. "It will be fine."

I sighed and glanced up to meet Jacob's eyes. They were warm, caring. Like the Jacob that I knew.

We sat down on the living room's sofa, Jacob's arm still around me. Right now I didn't care what we looked like, if this was meant to be more then friendship. I was just glad that I had someone who I could rely on through thick and thin. Resting my head of Jacob's shoulders, I closed my eyes and imagined a world where everyone was the same type. Where there were no sources of danger, no secrets, so resentment. Where I was free to roam wherever I liked with Edward on one side of me, holding my hand, and Jacob on the other, smiling and laughing. Where Edward and Jacob were friends. Realizing that I was being silly, I opened my eyes only to find Jacob with his eyes closed, gently rubbing my back. It felt good, safe. Like it was a normal afternoon. Well no, not normal, but peaceful.

"What are you thinking?" I was startled by Jacob's question. A feeling of sadness washed over me. That was what Edward had always asked, before he had left me. Edward wasn't able to read my thoughts like everyone else, which made him quite frustrated. I just shook my head, not exactly sure how I was answering Jacob's question.

"Sorry." Jacob mumbled. I could see from his face expression that he thought that he was the cause of my unhapiness.

"It's not your fault, Jake." I told him, sighing. He was pretty much the only true friend that I had had in months. If he hadn't been there for me, I'm not exactly sure what would have happened. I shuddered.

Jacob put his arm around my shoulders, his face expression still looking rather disturbed, as if he was uncomfortable.

"Bella." The change in his tone made me suspicious, and I narrowed my eyes. It was the same tone that Charlie used when he was having difficulty with saying something. "I just want you to know that I will always be there for you. That if you ever need someone to talk to, to listen to you." Jacob looked quite pleased with himself, but also slightly embarassed. Which, I noticed, was exactly how Charlie looked whenever he finished his talk with me.

"Thanks, Jacob. Really, I mean it. You have no idea how you have kept me together for the past few months."

Now he was grinning. But after a few moments, the grin faded into a look of serious concern. "So... Do you want to talk about it?"

I sighed. "When did you turn into a phycologist?"

Jacob laughed, and gave me that smile that I adored. "Why, just last week, actually. Right after I got my first degree in circus clowning."

"Nice."

Jacob was staring at me, his black eyes deep and sensitive, his eyebrows raised. I gave a loud sigh, and rolled my eyes. "What's there to talk about?" My thoughts focused in on Edward, and it immediatly pained me to think about his name. I couldn't get the horrific images of Edward going to the Volturri out of my mind, and I struggled to hold back my emrging tears.

"Bella." Jacob was looking at me intently. His fingers lingered on my jaw bone, tracing the shape of my mouth. They were so warm that they tingled when he touched my face. "What do you think is going to happen when Edward gets back? Do you think that everything is going to go back to the way it was before he left?"

I didn't know what to say. He was right. It wouldn't be the same. Part of me wanted to forget Edward, to let him go. But another part of me wanted to hold on to all of the memories that I had left of Edward, to hold on to him. I just couldn't choose. I suddenly burst into tears, andthrew my face against Jacob's chest. He gently stroked my hair.

"Shh, Bella, shh."


End file.
